Retail revamp Multi-million dollar renovation creates 200 jobs Page 19 Keep on truckin’ Desert Toyota celebrates 40 years in Tucson Page 7 Banking on technology UA makes hire for new Tech Launch Arizona center Page 3 Your Weekly Business Journal for the Tucson Metro Area WWW.INSIDETUCSONBUSINESS.COM • AUGUST 31, 2012 • VOL. 21, NO. 66 • $1 A WILDCAT WELCOME PAGE 4 Community turns out to greet new UA Pres. Ann Weaver Hart p r rates Long-time TCC exec placed on ‘imposed leave’ By Patrick McNamara Inside Tucson Business Tommy Obermaier, who was demoted in March from his job as director of the Tucson Convention Cen- ter, has now been suspended for an indefinite period of time by the City of Tucson. Obermaier was placed on “imposed leave” Aug. 21 and will remain on leave pending the results of an investigation, according to a memo from Deputy City Manager Liz Miller. City officials would not comment on the nature of the investigation or whether it has broader implica- tions affecting convention center’s operations. City Councilman Steve Kozachik said, based on his own observations, the TCC was plagued with person- nel issues. “I’ve met multiple times with multiple tenants and they’ve talked about their problems with getting con- tracts in a timely manner,” Kozachik said. Other tenants have complained about issues with box office sales, he added. Kozachik said he thought the reduced TCC work- force was being asked to do the same amount of work that a much larger staff had done in years past. e current TCC budget funds 43 fulltime positions. In fiscal 2002, the department had 63 fulltime employ- ees. Convention Center operations receive an annual multimillion dollar subsidy from the city’s general fund to keep it in the black. e total this fiscal year is ex- pected to be more than $2 million. In the 2011 fiscal year, TCC operations brought in $3.4 million in revenue toward a $5.4 million operating budget. e city has identified more than $40 million in needed capital improvements. Among other issues, the foundation beneath meet- ing rooms on the south side of the TCC were recently found to be sinking. e number of event days booked at the TCC have fallen in years to 916 last year, from nearly 2,800 in 2001. In March, City Manager Richard Miranda named former Tucson Police captain Mark Timpf as head of the TCC in place Obermaier. “To the extent that management changes are neces- sary,” Kozachik said, “I give the manager high marks.” Mamie Parris stars as Elphaba, the Wicked With of the West, in the return of “Wicked” March 20 to April 7, this time at the Tucson Music Hall, as part of Broadway in Tucson’s 2012-2013 season. Joan Marcus
Transcript
Retail revampMulti-million dollar renovation creates 200 jobs
Page 19
Keep ontruckin’Desert Toyota celebrates 40 years in Tucson
Page 7
Banking ontechnologyUA makes hire for new Tech Launch Arizona center
Page 3
Your Weekly Business Journal for the Tucson Metro Area
Long-time TCC exec placed on ‘imposed leave’ By Patrick McNamaraInside Tucson Business
Tommy Obermaier, who was demoted in March from his job as director of the Tucson Convention Cen-ter, has now been suspended for an indefi nite period of time by the City of Tucson.
Obermaier was placed on “imposed leave” Aug. 21 and will remain on leave pending the results of an investigation, according to a memo from Deputy City Manager Liz Miller.
City offi cials would not comment on the nature of the investigation or whether it has broader implica-tions aff ecting convention center’s operations.
City Councilman Steve Kozachik said, based on his own observations, the TCC was plagued with person-nel issues.
“I’ve met multiple times with multiple tenants and they’ve talked about their problems with getting con-tracts in a timely manner,” Kozachik said. Other tenants have complained about issues with box offi ce sales, he added.
Kozachik said he thought the reduced TCC work-force was being asked to do the same amount of work that a much larger staff had done in years past.
Th e current TCC budget funds 43 fulltime positions. In fi scal 2002, the department had 63 fulltime employ-ees.
Convention Center operations receive an annual multimillion dollar subsidy from the city’s general fund to keep it in the black. Th e total this fi scal year is ex-pected to be more than $2 million.
In the 2011 fi scal year, TCC operations brought in $3.4 million in revenue toward a $5.4 million operating budget.
Th e city has identifi ed more than $40 million in needed capital improvements.
Among other issues, the foundation beneath meet-ing rooms on the south side of the TCC were recently found to be sinking.
Th e number of event days booked at the TCC have fallen in years to 916 last year, from nearly 2,800 in 2001.
In March, City Manager Richard Miranda named former Tucson Police captain Mark Timpf as head of the TCC in place Obermaier.
“To the extent that management changes are neces-sary,” Kozachik said, “I give the manager high marks.”
Mamie Parris stars as Elphaba, the Wicked With of the West, in the return of “Wicked” March 20 to April 7, this time at the Tucson Music Hall, as part of Broadway in Tucson’s 2012-2013 season.
Joan
Mar
cus
2 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
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Colorado expert tapped to launch Tech Launch Arizona
NEWS
By Patrick McNamaraInside Tucson Business
Th e University of Arizona’s newly estab-lished technology commercialization of-fi ce, called Tech Launch Arizona, has hired its inaugural executive director.
David N. Allen comes to Tech Launch Arizona from the University of Colorado where for a decade he was associate vice president for technology transfer.
“Th e opportunity presented by Tech Launch Arizona is very compelling and I’m excited about the possibilities,” Allen said in an interview.
In his new position, Allen reports di-rectly to UA President Ann Weaver Hart.
Th e UA created Tech Launch Arizona eight months ago. Th e offi ce is charged with facilitating commercialization and monetizing technology developed at the UA. To that end, Tech Launch Arizona’s ef-forts will be coordinated with the UA’s ex-isting Offi ce of Technology Transfer as well as individual departments and the private sector.
Some have argued that the UA has been lagging in that regard, especially consider-ing the quality of research that has been developed and what can be expanded upon in the business incubator program at the Arizona Center for Innovation, 9040 S. Rita Road in the UA’s Science and Technol-ogy Park.
“We want the University of Arizona to have an active part in solving the problems of the world and of the state,” said Rick My-ers, chair of Arizona Board of Regents.
Myers said the combination of liberal arts, a law college, extensive scientifi c re-search and a medical school make the UA one of the most comprehensive in the country.
Th at combination, Myers said, makes it fertile ground for turning theoretical re-search into practical working solutions.
“(Allen) certainly has the opportunity to make this work and make this work fast,” Myers said.
Another element, Myers said, was to cre-ate a change in mind set among academics and administrators in the university envi-ronment, that in many instances has been resistant to commercialization.
“Th is isn’t a mechanical process, this is a cultural process,” Myers said. “You want to have an environment that encourages industry and university interaction.”
While at the University of Colorado, Al-len helped create the sort of interaction Myers talked about to increase technology transfer and the revenue it brings in.
“In 2002, there was around $1 million in royalty revenue (at Colorado),” Allen said. Over the next decade, revenue to the offi ce increased rapidly, growing to $3.4 million in fi scal 2003 and to $5.8 million in fi scal 2004. Revenue spiked in fi scal 2005, with $21.7 million, the result of several lucrative licensing deals, he said.
Since then, licensing revenue has re-mained strong, with $3.9 million last fi scal year.
Over the past decade, University of Colorado Technology Transfer Offi ce was responsible for more than $157 million in
revenue from royalties, fees, payments, monetizations, legal settlements and eq-uity liquidations, Allen said.
During Allen’s time in Colorado, the university’s technology transfer offi ce en-tered into nearly 400 licensing agreements and spun off 66 startup companies.
“Th e situation at the University of Arizo-na is very similar to where the University of Colorado was in 2002, in that the technol-ogy transfer offi ce was under performing and there was an intense desire to see it do better,” Allen said.
Revenue for the UA’s tech transfer in fi scal 2011 was $981,495, according to an annual survey conducted by the Associa-tion of University Technology Managers (AUTM).
Its cumulative revenue for 2009 to 2011 was $2.3 million. Over the same time, reve-nue recorded at the University of Colorado was $11.1 million.
In 2011, UA completed 80 licensing agreements and formed eight startups.
Allen said one of the fi rst objectives when he begins at UA will be to create a strategic plan that creates a set of goals for the new offi ce and provides options of how to achieve them.
Allen said technology transfer resem-bles venture capitalism because the rev-enue streams tend to be “lumpy,” in his words.
Like venture capitalism, success comes through making numerous, but wise, in-vestments.
“Th e University of Arizona has many of the requisite ingredients for successful technology commercialization,” Allen said.
Allen starts at Tech Launch Arizona Tuesday (Sept. 4).
Rio Nuevo gives progress report to Senate president
In the three months he has chaired the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District, Fletcher McCusker says progress has been made through more cooperation with the City of Tucson, increased tax revenue and growing private development in downtown Tucson.
In an Aug. 23 memo to state Senate Pres-ident Steve Pierce, McCusker says Rio Nue-vo’s tax increment fi nancing revenues now amount to about $13 million more than ex-penses and that, all totaled, the district has $32 million on hand, half of which is intend-ed for debt repayment on past bond sales.
“We are working with the mayor to try and settle our diff erences and regain the partnership that is required for the TIF dis-trict to work,” McCusker wrote. “A litigious and adversarial relationship will not pro-duce economic development.”
McCusker called the previous board’s lawsuits “an ill fated attempt to litigate the City of Tucson into a compliant partner-ship.”
However, McCusker acknowledged Rio Nuevo’s primary charges to improve the Tucson Convention Center and building a downtown convention hotel, remain chal-lenges.
County supervisor candidatetargeted in fi nance complaint
Two candidates who lost to Ally Miller in Tuesday’s Republican primary for a Pima County Board of Supervisors seat, have fi led campaign fi nance complaints taking issue with an independent group that paid for ad-vertisements on behalf of her candidacy.
Mike Hellon and Stuart McDaniel say Mitch Stallard, one-time executive with shopping center developer Westcor who now runs his own consulting fi rm, spent as much as $10,000 on advertising support-ing Miller. Th ey argue it was unfair coordi-nation because the public relations fi rm, TagLine Media Group, handled Miller’s election campaign.
As a result of Miller’s victory, she now faces Democrat Nancy Young Wright in the Nov. 6 general election. Ann Day, who currently holds the seat, is not seeking re-election.
4 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
NEWS
Correction
Due to a problem receiving complete information, not all of Larsen Baker’s shopping centers were included in the List of shopping centers that appeared in the Aug. 10 issue. An updated List of the Tucson region’s largest shopping centers is on page 8 of this week’s issue and the complete List will appear in the 2013 Book of Lists when it is published in January.
‘Donut hole’ land soldfor $10M in Rancho Vistoso
Th e last tract of undeveloped residential land in the Rancho Vistoso master planned community in Oro Valley has sold for $10 million to a California-based investment/development group. Th e parcel is known as the “Donut Hole” because most of the 168-acres are surrounded by fairways of the Rancho Vistoso Golf Course.
“Th is is irreplaceable, infi ll property with the golf course that wraps around it. We will handle the marketing to home builders,” said Will White of Land Advisors Organiza-tion – Tucson, who brokered the deal with Ryan Semro of Land Advisors’ Scottsdale of-fi ce. “Th is is a premium location, the homes probably will be move-up product or bet-ter.”
Th e purchaser was Vistoso Holdings LLC, San Ramon, Calif. Th e company is an affi liate of True Life Communities, a real estate investment and management fi rm with operations in California and Arizona. Th e seller was Arizona Vistoso Return LLC, Kansas City, Mo.
Th e “Donut Hole” features golf course frontage and natural open space. Tenta-tively, slightly less than 100 acres will be developed west of Pebble Creek and Desert Fairway drives on the west side of Rancho Vistoso Boulevard. It is zoned for medium- to high-density residential and will take about a year to bring the land to market, White estimated. On the east side of Rancho Vistoso Boulevard, about 70 acres will be left as open space.
PCC sets timeline to fi nd new chancellor
Pima Community College’s governing board on Monday set out a timeline to fi nd a permanent chancellor with an eye to hav-ing someone named by March and on the job in July 2013.
A search team headed by Elizabeth Rock-lin of R.H. Perry & Associates, an executive-search fi rm, will seek to recruit candidates this fall. By December, a search advisory committee made up of members of PCC faculty, staff and administrators, a student and members of the community will select semifi nalists.
Th en in January, three to fi ve fi nalists will be named after face-to-face interviews with seach advisory committee with interviews the following month by the governing board and other constituencies.
Th e new chancellor will replace Roy Flores, 70, who under terms of an agreement with the governing board agreed to end his affi liation with PCC as of June 30. Flores had been PCC’s chancellor from March 2003 to February 2012.
Suzanne Miles, a 26-year veteran of PCC, is serving as interim chancellor. She has said she will not apply to be permanent chancel-lor.
UA holds offi cial welcome for new UA president
Inside Tucson Business
New University of Arizona President Ann Weaver Hart and her husband Randy were the guests of honor at an of-fi cial welcome reception Tuesday at the UA’s Student Union Memorial Center ballroom. Among the hundreds in at-tendance were members of the Arizona Board of Regents, state lawmakers, local government offi cials and representa-tives from Gov. Jan Brewer and Congres-sional offi ces.
Weaver Hart offi cially took over as the UA’s fi rst woman president July 1. She came from Temple University, Phil-adelphia, where she was also president.
Board of Regent’s Chair Rick Mey-ers said Weaver Hart was the right can-didate for the job because she was “a proven leader.”
“We were looking for someone to lead Arizona into the future,” Meyers said.
Other attendees gave laudatory wel-comes to Weaver Hart including the Th omas R. Brown Foundation’s Presi-dent Sarah Smallhouse and University of Arizona Alumni Association Presi-dent Melinda Burke.
Weaver Hart has said she intends to become an active part of the larger Tuc-son community outside the university.
While at Temple, she was active in numerous nonprofi t organizations and charity groups.
She also has said she intends to work closely with the university’s new Tech Launch Arizona, whose executive di-rector David Allen will report directly to her.
Weaver Hart has also expressed her intention to further the research eff orts at the University of Arizona Medical Center, saying at an initial meeting with the community in February that she sees academic medicine as a key factor to the university’s success.
Weaver Hart’s contract includes an annual salary of $475,000, an annual housing allowance of $50,000, a $10,000 car allowance, $20,000 in moving ex-penses and a $100,000 transition ex-pense payment.G
ordo
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tes
New University of Arizona President Ann Weaver Hart at a reception on campus Tuesday.
AUGUST 31, 2012 5InsideTucsonBusiness.com
NEWS‘Name’ politicans fall in primary balloting
Primaries narrow fi eld to these competitive election races
7 races decided in primary
Inside Tucson Business
After spending about $8 million of his own money, Mesa businessman Wil Car-don garnered just 21 percent of the vote in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, losing to U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake. But that wasn’t the only “name” to be eliminated in Tues-day’s Arizona primary election.
U.S. Rep. Ben Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, won’t be returning to Congress for a second term after losing a fi erce Republican primary battle to another freshman congressman, David Schweikert.
As a result of redistricting, Quayle opted to face Schweikert head-to-head rather than run in a separate district that had its boundaries redrawn to become more Democratic.
And Russell Pearce, the architect of Ari-zona’s anti-illegal immigration legislation SB 1070 and employer sanctions law, lost in his bid to return to the state Legislature. Pearce was voted out of offi ce last year in a recall election.
As a result of Tuesday’s primary, 28 of the state’s 90 legislative races are now decided — 10 state Senate seats and 18 House seats.
Of those that are now decided in the state Senate, Democrats represent eight seats and Republicans represent four. In the House, Democrats represent eight seats and Republicans represent 10.
It’s widely believed that as a result of re-districting, Republicans will lose some of their clout though they are expected to hold on to their majority.
For the U.S. Senate seat, Flake now faces former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Car-mona, who was unopposed in the Demo-cratic primary for the U.S. Senate being given up by Jon Kyl.
Inside Tucson BusinessHere are the Nov. 6 general election ma-
jor competitive races aff ecting Southern Arizonans as a result of Tuesday’s primary:
(Asterisks indicate incumbents in state-wide and county races. Incumbents are not noted in Congressional and Legislative districts due to redistricting.)U.S. Senate
Richard Carmona, Tucson, DemocratJeff Flake, Tempe, Republican
Congress, District 1Ann Kirkpatrick, Flagstaff, DemocratJonathan Paton, Oro Valley, Republican
Congress, District 2Ron Barber, Tucson, DemocratMartha McSally, Tucson, Republican
Congress, District 3Raúl M. Grijalva, Tucson, DemocratBlanca Guerra, Tucson, LibertarianGabriella Saucedo Mercer, Tucson, Republican
Legislature, District 2House (elect two):
Christopher John Ackerley, Sahuarita, Repub-lican
Andrea Dalessandro, Green ValleyRosanna Gabaldon, Green Valley, Democrats
House (elect two):Ethan Orr, Tucson, RepublicanMohur Sarah Sidhwa, Tucson, DemocratVictoria Steele, Tucson, Democrat
Legislature, District 10Senate:
Frank Antenori, Tucson, RepublicanDavid Bradley, Tucson, Democrat
House (elect two):Todd A. Clodfelter, Tucson, RepublicanStefanie Mach, Tucson, DemocratTed Vogt, Tucson, RepublicanBruce Wheeler, Tucson, Democrat
Legislature, District 11Senate:
Jo Holt, Oro Valley, DemocratAl Melvin, Tucson, Republican
House (elect two):Dave Joseph, Oro Valley, DemocratAdam Kwasman, Tucson, Republican Steve Smith, Maricopa, Republican
Legislature, District 14Senate:
Patricia V. Fleming, Sierra Vista, DemocratGail Griffi n, Sierra Vista, Republican
House (elect two):David Gowan, Sierra Vista, Republican Robert Leach, Sierra Vista, DemocratDavid Stevens, Sierra Vista, RepublicanMark Stonebraker, Sierra Vista, Democrat
Pima County Supervisor, District 1Ally Miller, RepublicanNancy Young Wright, Democrat
Pima County Supervisor, District 2James Kelley, RepublicanRamón Valadez*, Democrat
Pima County Supervisor, District 3Tanner Bell, RepublicanSharon Bronson*, Democrat
Pima County Supervisor, District 5Richard Elías*, DemocratFernando Gonzales, Republican
Pima County AttorneyClaudia Elquist, GreenBarbara LaWall*, Democrat
Pima County SheriffDave Croteau, GreenClarence Dupnik*, DemocratMark Napier, Republican
Pima County RecorderBill Beard, RepublicanF. Ann Rodriguez*, Democrat
Pima County TreasurerBeth Ford*, RepublicanElaine Richardson, Democrat
Inside Tucson Business
Barring any last-minute circumstances, Tuesday’s primary election put the follow-ing Southern Arizona candidates into of-fi ce because none are facing opposition in the Nov. 6 generation election:
Legislature, District 2Senate:
Linda Lopez, Tucson, DemocratLegislature, District 3
Senate:Olivia Cajero Bedford, Tucson, Democrat
House:Sally Ann Gonzales, Tucson, DemcoratMacario Saldate, Tucson, Democrat
Legislature, District 4House (elect two):
Charlene R Fernandez, Yuma, Democrat Lisa Otondo, Yuma, Democrat(With only one Maricopa County pre-
cinct yet to report, Juan Carlos “J.C.” Esca-milla, San Luis, Democrat, was trailing by
less than 150 votes. But both other candi-dates were pacing above 36 percent of the county’s vote total compared to Escamilla’s less than 25 percent so the margin was ex-pected to widen.)Pima County Supervisor, District 4
Ray Carroll*, RepublicanPima County Assessor
Bill Staples*, RepublicanPima County School Superintendent
Linda Arzoumanian*, Republican* Indicates incumbent in county offi ces.
This Week’s Good News They’re baaack!
Nearly 40,000 students — maybe even more than 40,000 students when the fi nal numbers are tabulated in October — are back at the University of Arizona, including 7,450 freshmen, which is up more than 150 from last year and the largest incoming freshmen class yet. And they’re smarter, too.
Th e average grade point average for incom-ing freshmen is 3.44, up from 3.41 in 2011. Th e average SAT score is 1117 in math and critical thinking, up from 1109 in 2011. Th e average ACT score is 24.
About 4,500, or 61 percent, of incoming freshmen are Arizona residents and close to 3,000 are non-residents, either from other U.S. states or international students.
More than 1,100 new students are in the freshman class at the Honors College and more than 1,900 students are transfers from other colleges.
The Tucson
INSIDERInsights and trends on developing andongoing Tucson regional business news.
One that didn’t get away Tucsonans have been on the receiving end of
news stories about how another region snatched away a business, so it was interesting to read a report from the Denver Business Journal about how Tucson lured away Accelr8 Technology Corp.
According to the article by Greg Avery, it has a lot to do with incentives. Accelr8 will get up to $2.4 million in building improvements and funding as well as below-market rental rates of $9.25 per square foot for the fi rst three years. Th at goes up to $19.80 per square foot after the third year. Accelr8 can double its initial space of 15,000 square-feet under the terms of the deal.
To get the reduced rate, Accelr8 must hire at least 30 people with a median salary of $70,000 within 18 months of moving in and then main-tain that level or grow it.
Th e Denver report also said the Arizona Commerce Authority has pledged a grant of up to $1 million that Accelr8 can use on its product.
To qualify for all of the incentives, Accelr8 agreed to:
• Relocate from Denver and create 15 jobs averaging wages of at least $63,000 annually and pay at least 65 percent of health insurance pre-miums.
• Within a year surpass 30 new jobs, with the same salary and benefi ts parameters.
• And within two years exceed 40 new jobs, under the same conditions.
• At the end of three years create at least 65 such jobs.
• Spend at least $4.5 million in capital im-provements.
6 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
NEWS
City to fi re transportation workers following investigationBy Patrick McNamara Inside Tucson Business
Th e City of Tucson has moved to fi re at least a half-dozen of its Department of Transportation employees following an in-vestigation into misappropriations over an extended period of time of city materials and equipment.
“As city manager, I’m disappointed to have to report this information to you and to our city employees,” Tucson City Manag-er Richard Miranda said at a Tuesday news conference.
Miranda said that despite the allegations and fi rings, which the employees could de-cide to contest at pre-discharge hearings, most city employees are honest and hard-working.
Offi cials would not name the employees involved nor disclose the specifi c allega-tions of wrongdoing against them, citing confi dentiality and privacy issues. At least some of the employees have been on paid administrative leave since the investigation began in September 2011.
Th e allegations against the unnamed employees of the Streets and Traffi c Main-tenance Division are connected to reports of employees soliciting and accepting side work for road projects and in some cases
using city-owned materials such as asphalt to complete the jobs.
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said he called the news conference to show his sup-port for Miranda’s decision on the matter.
“Wrongful conduct will not be tolerated by any employee in any city department,” Rothschild said. “We are trying to bring a new day and new age to City Hall.”
Th e meeting also stood as an eff ort by city offi cials to get in front of the issue in light of a Nov. 6 city proposition that will ask voters to approve spending $100 million to fi x roads.
“I have concerns,” Rothschild said when asked if the fi rings and alleged misman-agement would aff ect passage of the bond package.
Both the mayor and city manager want-ed to highlight what they said were positive changes made in the department since the investigation began 11 months ago.
“City management has done a whole lot to bring in new processes so that this doesn’t happen again,” Rothschild said.
Th ose changes included hiring of an interim department director, replacing the streets division director, implementing a new time clock, installing GPS devices on vehicles, new material and equipment stor-age protocols, restructuring the streets divi-
sion and have begun training staff on the proper reporting of materials.
Th e city also has hired a new director for the Department of Transportation, Daryl Cole, who started on Aug. 20, permanently replacing Jim Glock, who retired and was not directly connected to any wrong-doing, according to offi cials.
Cole comes to Tucson from the City of El Paso where he was director of that city’s Department of Transportation.
Th e Tucson city employees to be fi red had seven days to request pre-discharge hearings where they could contest the ter-minations. In addition to the employees the city plans to dismiss, several more employ-ees in the Transportation Department face possible discipline and demotions for their involvement.
Th e city also has a separate ongoing investigation into possible related miscon-duct among employees of the department’s Engineering Division.
City offi cials would not comment whether any of the employees would face criminal prosecutions for their alleged ac-tions.
PUBLIC NOTICESSelected public records of Southern Arizona bankruptcies and liens.
BANKRUPTCIESChapter 11 - Business reorganization Joshua M. Conzemius and Erica L. Hoffman, 4315 N. Camino Del Obispo. Principal: Joshua M. Conzemius and Erica L. Hoffman, joint debtors. Assets: $790,177.52. Liabilities: $1,357,183.78. Largest creditor(s): Marshall & Ilsley Bank, Brookfi eld, Wis., $731,878.00 and Bank of America, Simi Valley, Calif., $246,071.00. Case No. 12-18579 fi led Aug. 20. Law fi rm: Eric Slocum Sparks
FORECLOSURE NOTICES No fi lings on businesses.
LIENSFederal tax liens Hollis Graphics Inc., 178 E. Broadway. Amount owed: $1,070.47. Carson Concrete & Decking Inc., 3475 N. Dodge Blvd. Amount owed: $26,656.10. Saunmik Investments LLC and Michael Mahaffey and Saundra Mahaffey, 7401 W. Beryllium Lane, Marana. Amount owed: $38,138.00.Baruch Investments Inc. and Michael Mahaffey and Saundra Mahaffey, 7401 W. Beryllium Lane, Marana. Amount owed: $38,138.00.Los Dos Amigos Meat Market Inc., 2949 W. Drexel Road. Amount owed: $7,142.11. Truquest Inc., 5151 E. Broadway, Suite 1290. Amount owed: $54,644.14. Zeb-Tech Services and Al-Tech Inc., 3895A N. Oracle Road. Amount owed: $13,419.60. Snowdriftfarm.com Inc., 4420 N. Highway Drive. Amount owed: $5,763.76.R.A. Plumbing and Ramon Michael Alvarez, 8055 W. Savi Place. Amount owed: $7,363.94.
State liens (Liens of $1,000 or more fi led by the Arizona Department of Revenue or Arizona Department of Economic Security.)LTD Group, 13802 N. Javelina Springs Place, Oro Valley. Amount owed: $30,841.74. Mastermind Electronics, 2200 El Mercado Loop, Sierra Vista. Amount owed: $11,900.57.R&R BBQ Company Togo, 1101 N. Wilmot Road, Suite 119. Amount owed: $8,862.99. Kelly’s Coffee & Fudge Factory and Patrick Martinez & Family LLC, 3538 E. Farrier Drive, Catalina. Amount owed: $26,854.24. Karuna’s Thai Plate and Farrell Karuna, 1917 E. Grant Road. Amount owed: $24,307.60. Kim Melvin Design & Construction, 2991 W. Calle Lucinda. Amount owed: $17,648.53.Ernie’s Midas Auto Service Experts, 1317 E. Fry Blvd., Sierra Vista. Amount owed: $65,572.38. Crossroads Market & Cafe and Crossroads Market LLC, 7 N. Main St., Pima. Amount owed: $16,154.76. Steak Out and Sonoita Mercantile Corp., PO Box 69, Sonoita 85637. Amount owed: $176,980.70. Carson Concrete & Decking Inc., 3475 N. Dodge Blvd. Amount owed: $34,861.56. Mighty’s Sports Grill and Resolute LLC, 515 Pan American Ave., Douglas. Amount owed: $4,143.29. Blue Mesa Studios and Mother Hubbard’s and Little Big Noise LLC, 522½ E. Speedway. Amount owed: $1,329.82. Vistoso Golf Course LLC, 955 W. Vistoso Highlands Drive, Oro Valley. Amount owed: $17,024.09. Arizona National and IRI Sabino Springs Golf Course LLC, 1700 Country Club Drive, Plano, Texas. Amount owed: $37,311.24.Daglio’s Cheesesteaks & Hoagies and Daglio’s LLC, 2574 N. Campbell Ave. Amount owed: $56,391.32. Canoa Hills Golf Course and Canoa Hills Golf Course LLC, 1700 Country Club Drive, Plano, Texas. Amount owed: $6,342.14.San Ignacio Golf Course and San Ignacio Golf Course LLC, 1700 Country Club Drive, Plano, Texas. Amount owed: $16,624.80.
McCain: Looming defense spending cuts would harm ArizonaBy AJ VicensCronkite News Service
PEORIA — Arizonans celebrating the Pentagon’s decision to base three F-35 fi ghter squadrons at Luke Air Force Base, heard a warning from U.S. Sen. John Mc-Cain that potential defense spending cuts could cost thousands of jobs and $3 billion to the state’s economy.
“We need the people of this country to understand the devastation and the inabil-ity to defend our nation if these cuts take place,” McCain said after meeting with mayors and other leaders of the area west of Phoenix.
Roughly $1.2 trillion in cuts from de-fense and non-defense programs would begin Jan. 2, 2013, if the president and Congress can’t agree on more than $1 tril-lion in defi cit reductions by the end of the year.
Th e fi rst $110 billion in cuts would take place in 2013, according to the deal struck
in 2011 to raise the nation’s borrowing lim-it. Defense spending would be cut by $55 billion in 2013.
Urging Arizonans to pressure their elected leaders and President Obama, Mc-
Cain said both major political parties share some blame, though he said the president should be forcing Congress to resolve the matter.
“It requires the president’s leadership,” McCain said. “So far the president’s been A-W-O-L.”
Th e White House Press Offi ce didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Obama told Th e Virginian-Pilot newspaper Aug. 20 that Republicans’ refusal to raise taxes on wealthier Americans is blocking a deal.
McCain cited a 2011 study by George Mason University economist Stephen Full-er estimating that Arizona would lose more than 33,000 jobs and $2 billion in earnings if the mandated cuts take place in 2013. Th e study, funded by a defense industry trade group, pegged the total loss to Ari-zona’s gross state product at $2.9 billion.
McCain said he’s in favor in savings in defense and domestic spending, “But you don’t want to do it with a meat ax.”
U.S. Sen. John McCain explains his concerns that potential defense spending cuts could have on Arizona’s economy.
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AUGUST 31, 2012 7InsideTucsonBusiness.com
PROFILEDesert Toyota holds steady for 40 yearsBy Christy KruegerInside Tucson Business
A business can go through many changes in 40 years. Th at’s the case with Desert Toyota. At the same time, the east side dealership also lays claim to maintaining the same ownership and location through four decades.
In April this year, Desert Toyota celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Brent Berge opened the dealership in 1972 on the southeast corner of East 22nd Street and Kolb Road, where it remains today.
General Manager Bob Rockov said that al-though Berge lived in Mesa, he graduated from the University of Arizona where he played foot-ball and baseball and he wanted a dealership here.
“He’s been driving down every Tuesday for 40 years,” Rockov said. “He’s the most consis-tent person I’ve ever met.”
In 1972, Kolb Road was most defi nitely con-sidered the far-east side.
“Th is was the end of Tucson. But Brent Berge had a vision Tucson would grow, and his vision proved to be correct,” Rockov said. “He also opened Berge Mazda in Mesa the same year.”
Today, the Berge Auto Group includes sev-en Phoenix-area dealerships. Desert Toyota/Desert Scion of Tucson is the only Berge loca-tion in Southern Arizona.
Being practically a relic in car dealer years doesn’t mean Desert Toyota looks or acts its age. Rockov explained that it went through
several renovations over the years, but in 2008 the old building was completely torn down and replaced with a new four-story facility. Th e 260,000-square-foot dealership has an indoor parking garage, a restaurant and room for its 183 employees.
Proof that Berge and his people have up-to-date attitudes and social values sits on the roof. In May, the business went live with a 120,000-watt solar system that is generating a 15 percent electrical savings, according to Jerry Cannella, former general manager of Desert Toyota who now oversees various operations.
“Th is was not just about savings. Th e signif-icant factor was trying to be environmentally responsible. We wanted to be on the cutting edge,” said Cannella, who has been affi liated with Berge and Desert Toyota for almost 40 years.
General manager Bob Rockov
Th e solar sys-tem, he said, is part of a bigger picture of sustainability. “We got involved with water harvesting in July 2008, before it was mandated by the city. We wanted to do things that would benefi t the environment specifi c to our part of the world.”
Th e company also initiated a recycling program throughout the facility and installed landscaping designed for low-water usage.
Early on, Berge became philanthropically involved in the community, particularly with Tucson Medical Center and University of Ari-zona Medical Center. Desert Toyota has been the title sponsor of Rock ‘N Rodeo since its inception more than 15 years ago. Th e annual TMC Foundation gala is a fundraiser for Pep-pi’s House hospice.
“We wanted to focus on several worthy causes centered around TMC and UMC be-cause they do so much for so many people,” said Cannella regarding Berge’s charitable choices. “He and Dr. Jack Copeland and Sarver Heart Center in conjunction with UA Founda-tion became very close. He’s a big UA supporter and a great guy. We were one of the fi rst to pro-
vide cars for the early ath-letic program in the ‘70s.”
Sustaining this kind of longevity requires more than just a consistent lead-er. “We have long-term customers who are loyal to the store. Customers come back to us because we’re fair. We even have group-ies,” Rockov maintained,
telling of a retiree who comes everyday to say hello and have coff ee. Th e staff doesn’t mind. “He’s bought about 20 cars in the 12 years I’ve been here,” Rockov said.
“It’s a wonderful atmosphere,” Cannella added. “I hear compliments about Bob, our other employees and the store constantly.”
While Brent Berge has two sons involved in the Phoenix dealerships, no family members are currently in Tucson. But Cannella doesn’t seem concerned about the future of Desert Toyota and the Berge family’s ties to the busi-ness. “He’ll probably continue to drive down here every Tuesday for the next 40 years,” Can-nella predicted. “It’s a safe bet to say that Brent will never retire.”
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BIZ FACTS
Desert Toyota/Desert Scion of Tucson7150 E. 22nd St.www.deserttoyota.com(520) 296-8535
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8 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
AUGUST 31, 2012 9InsideTucsonBusiness.com
FilmLate August is
typically the time when fi lms that Hollywood didn’t know what else to do with are released. So there’s a mixed bag for this Labor Day weekend.
Among the off erings: the horror fl ick “Th e Possession,” which is loosely based on a real life tale of a possessed object and the damage it does to whomever owns it.
Others are the indie comedy “Jessie and Celeste Forever,” with Rashida Jones and Andy Samburg as a divorcing couple who might be changing their mind; and “Lawless,” featuring Tommy guns and an all-star cast including Shia Labeouf, Tom Hardy and Guy Pierce as depression-era bootleggers and G-Men.
On a diff erent note, Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, opens three fi lms of note open.
Th ey are “Cosmopolis,” the latest from director David Cronenberg about a billionaire in his limo; “Headshot,” a fi lm from Th ailand about a cop turned hitman; and “2 Days in New York,” a comedy with Julie Delpy and Chris Rock.
Contact Herb Stratford at herb@
ArtsandCultureGuy.com. Stratford teaches
Arts Management at the University of Arizona.
Th is column appears weekly in Inside Tucson
Business.
HERB STRATFORD
ARTS & CULTURE
Th e summer concert series at Casino Del Sol’s AVA Amphitheater, 5655 W. Valencia Road, wraps up with a couple of big-name acts over the next two weeks.
At 8 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 5) the legendary trio David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash will be on stage. Ticket prices range from $27 for lawn seat-ing up to $176 for a VIP package with extra goodies.
Th en at 7 p.m. Sept. 12, the stage moves forward to the pop-metal music of the 1980s with a double bill featuring Def Leppard and Poison. Tickets range from $60 for lawn seating up $150 for gold or box seats.
ArtTh e cooperative associates of Tucson
Drawing Studio, 33 S. Sixth Ave., open a new exhibit Saturday of images under the title “Capturing Nature’s Light.” Running through Sept. 29, the show features renderings of nature that are only possible when working “plein air” — painting landscapes while outside as opposed to painting them from photographs or other resources. Th ere will be an opening recep-tion from 6-9 p.m. Sept. 8 as part of the monthly “Second Saturdays Downtown.”
Th eaterInvisible Th eatre, 1400 N. First Ave.,
kicks off its 42nd season Tuesday (Sept. 4) with a production of “Motherhood Out Loud,” a play composed of short narra-tives about motherhood from a variety of authors and performers. After Tuesday’s preview performance, the play runs evenings Wednesdays through Saturdays and Sunday matinees through Sept. 23.
Big acts wrap up summerat Casino Del Sol’s AVA
OUT OF THE OFFICE
MICHAEL LURIA
MEALS & ENTERTAINMENT
Summer’s over, lots of eventsare on tap for September
Get your calendar out, the fall frenzy of events is about to hit.
Tucson Beer Cup• 7-10 p.m. Sept. 21 at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.
An off -shoot of Hotel Congress’s summer beer tastings is a new “Born & Brewed” event celebrating local breweries as each goes head-to-head in a competition for the people’s choice vote for the Best Brew in Tucson. Th ere will be samples from 1702, Barrio, Borderlands, Dragoon, Nimbus and Th under Canyon. Th e winner of the fi rst annual beer cup will get a handle in Hotel Congress’s Tap Room for a year.
Tickets are $20 each ($25 the day of the event) and include a keepsake pilsner glass for tastings, 12 tastes of beer and snacks. Buy tickets at Hotel Congress or online at www.hotelcongress.com.
Greek Festival• 5-10 p.m. Sept. 20, 5-11 p.m. Sept. 21, 4-11 p.m. Sept. 22 and noon-6 p.m. Sept. 23 at Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 1145 E. Fort Lowell Road
Th e 37th annual festival is four days of music, dancing, cooking demonstrations and, best of all, an array of traditional Greek dishes. Th ere is also a Greek market of food, spices, coff ee and candies.
Admission is $3 per person per day. Children under 12 and active duty military (with an ID) are free. A four-day pass is available for $5 and those bringing a can of food for the Community Food Bank will receive a $1 coupon (limit one coupon per adult) good toward the purchase of an item from the food line.
Details, including information about parking and shuttles, is online at www.tucsongreekfest.com.
Flavors of Tucson • 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at Loews Ventana Canyon, 7000 N. Resort Drive
Benefi tting the American Liver Foundation, 16 chefs each
preparing at least fi ve-course meals for tables of 12. Tickets are $225 each, at www.liverfoundation.org/events/fl avors
Participating chefs are Jason Jonilonis, Casino Del Sol Resort; Ken Harvey, Loews Ventana; Addam Buzzalini, Maynards Kitchen; Aris Cabrera, Quail Creek Country Club; Ryan Clark, Lodge on the Desert; Serge Delage, Westin La Paloma Resort; Albert Hall, Acacia; Gregg Carra, Hacienda del Sol; Danny Perez, JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort; Jonny Ricketts, Sullivan’s Steakhouse; Ramiro Scavo, Pasco Kitchen; Ethan Schulz, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse; David Serus, Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain; Brian Steiner, Gallery Golf Club; Steven Shimmin, DoubleTree Reid Park; and Jack Tate, Union Public House.
Grape Expectations• 6-10 p.m., Sept. 21, at St. Philip’s Plaza, 4280 N. Campbell Ave.
Th e 10th annual event to benefi t Ronald McDonald House Charities off ers guests more than 100 wines and food samples from restaurants. Tickets are $100 each. Th e afterparty at Union Public House is part of a $150 ticket. Buy tickets online at http://rmhctucson.org/events/grape-expectations
Contact Michael Luria at mjluria@
gmail.com. Meals & Entertainment appears
weekly in Inside Tucson Business.
10 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
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FOCUS ON NON-PROFITS
Tragedies started Ben’s Bells and taken it to a national level By Christy KruegerInside Tucson Business
A pair of Tucson tragedies almost nine years apart – one devastating a family, the other bringing an entire community to tears — came full circle for a brave and selfl ess woman who turned the horrifi c events into something positive.
Because of her actions, she is aff ecting lives — both in the Tucson region and around the country — in ways she never dreamed.
Th ree-year-old Ben Maré died suddenly on March 29, 2002. His parents, Jeannette and Dean Maré, were almost too over-whelmed to go on. But when support in the way of kindness began to pour in, their hearts opened up. Th ey found healing in the creative act of forming bells from clay while being sur-rounded by others.
Jeannette Maré started Ben’s Bells that year with the intention of inspiring kindness in others. Each bell includes a note to pass along kindness. Over the years, the organization has become familiar to many Tucsonans, but it had re-mained relatively unknown elsewhere.
Th en came the shootings at U.S. Rep. Ga-brielle Giff ords’ constituent event Jan. 8, 2011. While Tucsonans lived through feel-ings of helplessness and sorrow, Ben’s Bells volunteers went into gear, hanging 1,400 bells around the city.
Maré immediately noticed kindness be-ing adopted on a community level.
“Th ey got the message more clearly. It was simple acts of connection that helped me, and January 2011 made people feel out
of control,” she said. A week later, “NBC
Nightly News” ran a feature report on Ben’s Bells and how it was helping Tucso-nans deal with the shooting tragedy. Maré’s phone be-
gan to ring. “We got national coverage, and a huge re-
sponse from outside Tucson happened. We didn’t know how to respond. Other cities wanted to make bells themselves.” She said.
Now the staff of Ben’s Bells has taken the program to other states including North Carolina, New Jersey and Florida.
Although the organization had been growing steadily, Maré and her board of di-rectors were unprepared for the sudden outside interest and have had to make stra-tegic decisions on how to proceed. Th ey hired a consultant and are receiving pro
bono advice from a local attorney.One of the concerns they face is funding.
Ben’s Bells has been mostly self-sustaining. “We’re not grant dependent; we get no state
or federal funding,” Maré said. “Forty percent of our funding comes from individuals and 45 per-cent from the sale of Be Kind merchandise.”
In Tucson, Ben’s Bells has two studios where staff members and volunteers make tiles that attach to the bells. Having chapters in additional communities seems to make sense, but opening studios with enough space to house kilns and other equipment takes money. So does hiring staff .
“It’s a chicken and egg situation,” Maré not-ed. “Once they open, they begin supporting the message and the studio. We’re at the point now where it’s a business and we have a recogniz-able brand, and that takes it up a notch.”
Perhaps of bigger concern is maintain-ing the integrity of the mission and the story
behind it. Questions arise such as how to manage growth, protect the message and keep all components uniform.
Dev Sethi, a passionate Ben’s Bells board member and attorney, said tangibles, such as the logo, tile, bell shapes and font can be registered.
“Th e problem is what to do to protect the way of delivering the message. We can’t pro-tect kindness; we don’t want to,” Sethi said.
Many Tucsonans are aware of the bell hangings performed twice a year and the weekly bellings in which a deserving person is selected to receive a bell. But perhaps the group’s most important program is Kind Kids.
Off ered in more than 100 schools in the Tucson region, Kind Kids helps to create a culture of kindness among children. It fi rst came to Sethi’s attention when his daughter, who was nine years old at the time, came home from school and started writing thank-you notes to other kids for being kind.
“Ben’s Bells created an environment of empathy, where being kind is expected be-havior,” Sethi said. “Now kids who try to bully others are looked at as being outside the norm. Ben’s Bells allows kids to experi-ence what it feels like to be kind to someone else and have others be kind to them.”
Th e organization is taking the Kind Kids initiative a big step further by having social scientists at the University of Arizona and Stanford University perform quantitative studies on how kindness aff ects people.
“Collecting data from kids over time, re-searchers are testing theories that compas-sion and kindness increases satisfaction and relationships and health. Th e real ben-efi ts of Ben’s Bells will be 20 years from now when the kids are co-workers and bosses and spouses,” Sethi said.
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BIZ FACTS
Ben’s Bells816 E. University Blvd.40 W. Broadwaywww.bensbells.org(520) 628-2829
Jeannette Maré is founder of Ben’s Bells.
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AUGUST 31, 2012 11InsideTucsonBusiness.com
19 million dollars in tax revenue annually could help support our police and fire departments, schools and road repair needs.
Well-paying jobs will be created, adding 400 jobs to the site per year.
An additional 1700 indirect jobs will be created annually.
The Rosemont management team is made up of over 40 of your Tucson neighbors.
Ten are Arizona natives and six are UA grads.
Many are involved in our community and youth programs.
GETTING FIT
Tucson’s Y picked to test diabetes prevention program Th e YMCA of Southern Arizona has
been chosen to participate in a project to assess if the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program can lower incidence of type 2 diabetes and reduce health care costs. As one of 17 Ys participating in the project, if successful, it could potentially save millions in future health care costs and create an infrastructure for how commu-nity based organizations may deliver health care services to the Medicare population in the future.
YMCA of the USA (Y-USA), the national offi ce for the Y, was named as a preliminary awardee of the Health Care Innovation Award by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Th e award will help the YMCA of Southern Arizona recruit and deliver the program to Medicare benefi cia-ries and track health outcomes for those individuals.
“We have off ered the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program since January 2011 and we’ve seen great results and will now be able to reach even more people in need,” said Vivian Cullen, community outreach director of YMCA of Southern Arizona. “Participating in this project will not only help us further prevent diabetes in a population that is at great risk, but it will help shape the future of how prevention programs are delivered and paid for across the nation.”
Th e YMCA’s program, part of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) led National Diabetes Prevention Program, is a 12-month evidence-based program that includes 16 weekly core sessions followed by monthly mainte-nance sessions. Th e
program is delivered in a classroom setting by trained lifestyle coaches and provides a supportive environment where a small group of individuals work together to learn how healthier eating and increased physical activity can help reduce their risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Long-term program goals include reducing participants’ body weight by 7 percent and increasing
physical activity to 150 minutes per week.
Because research has shown that programs like the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program can reduce incidence of diabetes among Medicare-age individuals by about 70 percent (compared to 58 percent for
younger individuals), the program has been identifi ed as a promising approach in lowering Medicare expenditures.
Th e demonstration project will take place in 17 communities where the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is currently
DANE WOLL
GOOD BUSINESS
available, but will provide best practices and create an infrastructure for serving the Medicare population that can eventually be leveraged nationally by the Y and other community-based providers of prevention services.
Because we know that healthy lifestyles are achieved through nurturing mind, body
and spirit, well-being and fi tness at the Y is so much more than just working out.
Find out more about the YMCA of Southern Arizona’s Diabetes Prevention Program http://tucsonymca.org/social/diabetesPrevention.cfm(520) 623-5511 ext. 218
12 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
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LOOK FAMILIAR?BEFORE AFTER
MEDIAJuly ratings have TV executives scratching their heads By David Hatfi eldInside Tucson Business
In the fi rst media column I wrote for the Arizona Daily Star in November 1976 — yes, I’m going back nearly 36 years for this — I wrote about “sweeps” ratings months and how TV stations and networks put their marketing efforts into winning them. That’s why we were seeing so many high-profile shows in November and we would again in February and May.
I had not met everyone in local media when I wrote that column but the first call I got the morning the column appeared was from Jon Ruby, the general manager at KVOA 4. He was one I hadn’t met yet. I re-member he told me, “You made a mistake in the column. There are four sweeps a year. You left out July. It’s not a big deal. Hardly anyone ever pays attention to them. Things can get pretty screwy in the summer, espe-cially around here.”
I got to know Ruby better of the years — he was my boss for 21 of those years. He died in May 2011, but if he took a look at the July 2012 Nielsen TV ratings for Tucson that just came he’d know not a lot has changed in 36 years.
In fact, these latest ratings are leaving some local TV executives simply not believ-ing them.
Word out of one TV newsroom was crew members on one newscast who wanted to celebrate a jump in their ratings were told by management, not to. But when they asked why, the executive told them, “Be-cause we can’t believe they’re real.”
Meanwhile, at KOLD 13, researchers have come up with a presentation that indi-cates Nielsen under-represented viewing to local newscasts by anywhere from about
1,770 households to as many as 13,700 households in one case. The research was based on data collected by Rentrak, a media data firm that started into TV ratings in Jan-uary 2011.
Nielsen and Rentrak have different meth-odologies. Nielsen’s July sweeps were taken over a four-week period from June 28 through July 25. Rentrak did its calculations based on viewing over five weeks from June 25 through July 29. That means Rentrak’s numbers included the Summer Olympics opening ceremonies and first weekend of coverage. Nielsen basis its estimates from diaries filled out by a selected sample of viewers that changes each week. Rentrak basis its calculations from set-top readings from devices attached to Dish Network sub-scribers.
KOLD’s research says the undercount from Nielsen affected every station in Tuc-son and nearly all newscasts. There were only two weekday newscasts — “NBC Night-ly News” and “ABC World News Tonight,” both at 5:30 p.m. — where Nielsen showed higher viewing than Rentrak.
Questions aside over the outcomes, the latest Nielsen ratings produced a rarity — maybe the first in at least 36 years — where every station in the Tucson market could lay claim to having a No. 1-rated newscast. KVOA 4 took the top honors in the early-morning; KOLD News 13 won at noon, 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.; KGUN 9 won at 5 p.m. and KMSB Fox 11 won at 9 p.m.
Meanwhile, these ratings are likely to be brushed aside with the end of summer as stations and networks get set for the next Nielsen sweeps: Oct. 26-Nov. 21.
* Rating: Each whole rating point represents an estimated 4,230 viewers ages 25-54 in 2012 and an estitmated 4,520 viewers in 2011. * Market share: Percentage of households watching TV at that time that are tuned to the program. * Trend: Year-over-year changes of more than 15% or at least 0.4 of a ratings point in viewers 25-54. ** Fox 11 Daybreak replaced Good Morning Arizona eff ective Feb. 1, 2012. News 13 at 4 p.m. replaced Oprah Winfrey eff ective Sept. 1, 2011
Source: Nielsen Viewers In Profi le report, July 2012
AUGUST 31, 2012 13InsideTucsonBusiness.com
70 yearsstill counting.
Now your business can tell Inside Tucson Business about new hires, promotions and special awards online. Go to www.insidetucsonbusiness.com and click the “People in Action” button. From there you can submit your announcement and we’ll publish it online and in print.
{TELL US ONLINE}
PEOPLE IN ACTION
NEW HIRES
The Pima Air and Space Museum has hired Mark Velbeck to manage the group sales activities. He brings more than 20-years experience in sales and marketing with a primary focus on business-to-business sales. Prior to his new role at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Velbeck worked at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Before moving to Tucson, he worked at the Universal Orlando Resort where he helped develop and implement sales collateral for the launch of a new attraction, “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.”
Valor Hospice Care has hired Melissa Phillips as a business development director. Phillips will oversee marketing, community outreach, education and
admissions programs. She has more than 16 years of hospice experience.
Brighid Brown has been hired as marketing manager for Tucson Mall and Park Place. Brown will be responsible for strategic planning efforts, including overseeing
marketing planning, retailer communications, public relations, community relations, event planning and more marketing-related activities. Prior to her current position, Brown served as the marketing specialist and earlier, as the marketing coordinator for Woodfi eld Mall, one of the
nation’s largest shopping centers. Before joining Woodfi eld Mall, Brown was the marketing coordinator for Dobbe Marketing & PR, a fi rm based in Crystal Lake, IL. Brown holds a bachelor’s of arts degree in corporate communications from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill.
Northwest Allied Physicians has hired family medicine physician
Mauricio Valencia, M.D., as the newest member of its medical staff. Valencia specializes in family medicine with an emphasis on preventive and holistic medicine. Valencia received his medical degree from the University of California Los Angeles and completed his residency at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale, Calif.
MARK VELBECK BRIGHID BROWN MAURICIO VALENCIA
14 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
By Herb Stratford
It sounds like a bad cliché, but Tucson really is home to an embarrassment of riches in re-gards to our performing arts. With the 2012-2013 seasons set to begin next month, this is a brief look at what is coming up on stages across the region.
Th e range of events this season is extraordinary and includes world-class visiting artists, Arizona premieres and something for every member of the family.
For the purposes of this preview, we are looking at nine of the “major” entities in Tucson and off ering a snapshot of their upcoming off erings.
In my regular weekly column over the coming months, I’ll will go into detail on specifi c shows.
Arizona OperaAccording to Arizona Opera General Director Scott Altman, opera is perhaps the “highest art
form” in that in encompasses many other art forms including music, dance and theatre. With a great mixture of classics and cutting edge operas not recently seen on stage in Tucson, this season appears to have something for everyone.
Opening the season Oct. 20, according to Altman, is a “tour de force” performance of “Lucia di Lammermor,” starring rising star guest soprano Lisette Oropesa, making a return to the Tuc-son stage.
Up next are “Romeo et Juliette” in November and “Tocsa” at the beginning of February. “Il Trovatore” follows in March and wraps up in April with a season ending “Marriage of Figaro,” arguably one of the fi nest operas ever written
All performances are at the Music Hall in the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.• Arizona Opera — www.azopera.com/
Broadway In TucsonTh is season, Broadway In Tucson’s eighth, features a mixture of shows. Opening in Sep-
tember, for an abbreviated run is “Stomp,” the Broadway favorite featuring a rousing mixture of
non-conventional music and acrobatics. Also on the schedule this season is the return of “Wicked” in late March and early April, this
time at the Tucson Convention Center’s Music Hall as opposed to Centennial Hall. Audience favorite “Blue Man Group” will be on stage in late April.Th e season also will include a revival of the classic revival musical “Anything Goes” in No-
vember and recent Tony Award-winning musical “Memphis” in late February-early March.Th e show that seems to have Broadway in Tucson General Manager Lendre Kearns most
excited, is a joint presentation with UApresents of Carol Burnett on Jan. 28. Th e one-night event has been two years in the making and invites audience members to ask questions of the famed comedienne.
Most Broadway in Tucson presentations are at the Music Hall in the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., though Carol Burnett show will be at Centennial Hall, 1020 E. Uni-versity Blvd. on the UA campus.
• Broadway in Tucson — www.BroadwayInTucson.com
Tucson Jazz SocietyTh e Jazz Society is an organization that continues to feature an amazing array of shows fea-
turing local and national talent. Executive Director Sandy Riser says this season’s diverse and unique programming literally has “something for everyone.”
Th e seventh annual New Year’s Eve event again will bring in big-name acts and there will be a new event in March called “Jazz Del Sol” featuring performances of both jazz and blues at AVA Amphitheater at Casino Del Sol.
Additionally, the jazz society puts on regular shows featuring local talent.Th e New Year’s Eve event takes place at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa, 3800 W.
Starr Pass Blvd.; Casino Del Sol is at 5655 W. Valencia Road, and Tohono Chul Park is at 7366 N. Paseo Del Norte, northwest of the intersection of Oracle and Ina roads.
• Tucson Jazz Society — www.TucsonJazz.org.
Tucson Symphony OrchestraSymphony Executive Director Andrew Birgensmith has some exciting off erings for 2012-
2013 season. Th e classic series includes crowd-pleasures such as the return of acclaimed vio-linist Joshua Bell Feb. 16 and the Eroica Trio performing Beethoven’s triple concerto perform-ing opening weekend, Oct. 5 and 7.
An all-new Pops! Show, “Th e Magic of Christmas” will feature the symphony playing with the TSO Chorus and Tucson Boys Chorus and other guests.
Rounding out the season are some special shows including a March 16 concert by the group Pink Martini, whose music is internationally infl uenced, and a TSO Pops! presentation Jan. 26 27 called “Ballroom with a Twist,” which combines world-class ballroom dancing, music and more.
Th e venue for the classic series and the TSO Pops! is the Music Hall at the Tucson Conven-tion Center, 260 S. Church Ave.; the MasterWorks series chamber orchestra performs in the auditorium at Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Drive; a series of concerts for children take place on Saturdays at the Tucson Symphony Center, 2175 N. Sixth Ave.; and there will even be a couple of TSO Rocks the Fox concerts (one in October paying tribute to Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five and one in April paying homage to Freddie Mercury and Queen) at the Fox Tucson Th eatre, 17 W. Congress St.
Extraordinary performances highlight Tucson’s art season
ARTS & CULTURE SPECIAL
The fi ery heroine, Lucia, exchanges rings with her family’s enemy, Sir Edgardo, pitting her in the cross hairs of a duel between family honor and secret passion 17th century Scotland in Arizona Opera’s presentation of Gaetano Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermor” Oct. 6 and 7.
Comedienne Carol Burnett will interact with the audience as part of a joint presentation of Broadway in Tucson and UApresents Jan. 28 at Centennial Hall.
The Eroica Trio will perform a special
recital at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.
see FALL ARTS on PAGE 16
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AUGUST 31, 2012 15InsideTucsonBusiness.com
MOMIX:“BOTANICA”
LANG LANG
LILA DOWNS
CAROLBURNETT
CHRIS BOTTI
SEPTEMBER Day Date TimeBonnie Raitt Wed. 09/26/12 7:30pm
OCTOBERThe Daily Show Live: “Indecision Tour 2012” Fri. 10/19/12 8pmShaolin Warriors Sun. 10/21/12 3pmLang Lang Sun. 10/28/12 7pm
NOVEMBERAszure Barton & Artists Sat. 11/03/12 8pm
Mummenschanz Sat. 11/17/12 8pm
David Sedaris Tues. 11/27/12 7:30pmSybarite5* Thurs. 11/29/12 7:30pm
DECEMBERCeltic Woman: A Christmas Celebration – The Symphony Tour Sun. 12/16/12 7pm
JANUARYZoppé Family Circus**** Fri. 01/11/13 7pmZoppé Family Circus**** Sat. 01/12/13 1pmZoppé Family Circus**** Sat. 01/12/13 4pmZoppé Family Circus**** Sat. 01/12/13 7pmZoppé Family Circus**** Sun. 01/13/13 1pmZoppé Family Circus**** Sun. 01/13/13 4pmSoledad Barrio's Noche Flamenca Sun. 01/13/13 7pmChick Corea and Gary Burton*** Sat. 01/19/13 8pmLaughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett Sat. 01/26/13 8pmHarold and the Purple Crayon Sun. 01/27/13 4pm
FEBRUARYVancouver Symphony Orchestra Fri. 02/01/13 8pmAlonzo King LINES Ballet Sun. 02/10/13 7pmNathan Gunn* Thurs. 02/14/13 7:30pmUA Dance: "Premium Blend"** 4 performances 02/14 – 02/17/13John Pizzarelli Quartet*** Sat. 02/16/13 8pmFrom the Top Live with Christopher O'Riley Sun. 02/17/13 4pmBarbara Cook*** Fri. 02/22/13 8pmMOMIX: "Botanica" Sun. 02/24/13 7pmBridget Kibbey “Music Box”* Thurs. 02/28/13 7:30pm
MARCHUA Dance: "Premium Blend"** 4 performances 02/28 – 03/3/13Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Tues. 03/05/13 7:30pmWynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Sat. 03/09/13 8pmThe Underground Railroad, An Evening with Kathleen Battle Fri. 03/22/13 8pmCome to the Cabaret!** Sat. 03/23/13 6:30pmLimón Dance Company Sun. 03/24/13 7pm
APRILChris Botti Sun. 04/07/13 7pmFELA! Fri. 04/12/13 8pmFELA! Sat. 04/13/13 2pmFELA! Sat. 04/13/13 8pmLila Downs*** Sun. 04/14/13 7pmLes Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Sat. 04/20/13 8pm
2012-13 SEASON
Most performances at UA Centennial Hall UApresents.org (520) 621-3341
†Restrictions apply. Savings in sections “B,” “C,” “D” and “E” only.
On SaleNow!
*Crowder Hall **Eller Dance Theatre ***Fox Theatre ****Reid Park
†
KATHLEENBATTLE
Co-presented by UApresents and Broadway in Tucson
16 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
Arizona Th eatre CompanyWith three plays making their Arizona premieres, the season will introduce audiences to
exciting new works such as “Lombardi” about the legendary football coach running Oct. 20 to Nov. 10 and “Nest to Normal” a musical about suburban crisis running Sept. 15-Oct. 6. A new look at a classic tale, “Jane Austen’s Emma,” will be on stage from Dec. 1-22.
Combine those with the Neil Simon claissic “Th e Sunshine Boys” March 2-23;) the Off -Broadway show about psychoanalysis “Freud’s Last Session” Jan. 19-Feb. 9; the drama-come-dy about real estate “Clybourn Park” April 6-27; and you can see why this is going to be a season of diverse plays at Arizona Th eatre Company.
Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein says he’s “feeling electric” about the upcoming season that he describes as “wildly diff erent genres, but artistically accessible.”
Performances in Tucson are at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.• Arizona Th eatre Company — www.ArizonaTh eatre.org
Ballet TucsonFounding Artistic Director Mary Beth Cabana and Ballet Tucson have a pretty exciting and
unique show on their schedule, both groundbreaking and fun. Entitled “Passionately, Piaz-zolla!” the work is a collaboration with Chamber Music Plus and the Tucson Guitar Society that will celebrate and illustrate the genius that is the music of Astor Piazzolla and tango danc-ing. Part of the inaugural Tucson Song Festival, this event bends music, dance and song in a way that you have never seen before. Th e haunting music of Piazzolla, long considered the godfather of tango, will be familiar to many, but the show Ballet Tucson has in store should be spectacular. It will be at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., from Feb. 15-17.
Ballet Tucson venues also include the Stevie Eller Dance Th eater, 1737 E. University Blvd. on the east mall of the UA campus, and Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.
• Ballet Tucson — www.BalletTucson.org
Invisible Th eatrePerhaps the most unique event on Invisible Th eatre’s schedule this season is “Hollywood
Revisited” which combines music, performance and vintage Hollywood costumes. Featuring Greg Schreiner at the piano, and his world famous vintage movie costume collection worn by performers singing the songs from the fi lms in which they were used, this is a multi-genre event. Th ere will be only one show, Dec. 16, at the Berger Center for the Performing Arts, 1200 W. Speedway on the campus of the Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind.
Invisible Th eatre’s 38-year grand dame and Artistic Director Susan Claassen has a few oth-er surprises up her sleeve, along with a season of Arizona premieres as the venerable theatre company enters its 42nd season in Tucson.
Th e Invisible Th eatre’s primary venue is at 1400 N. First Ave.
• Invisible Th eatre — www.InvisibleTh eatre.com
UApresentsExecutive Director Chuck Tennes can’t pick out a favorite show in UApresents’ upcoming
season, and how could he with 34 diff erent acts hitting stages in the coming months? He did confess he’s excited about their opening musical shows featuring singer songwriter Bonnie Raitt on Sept. 26 and piano phenom Lang Lang on Oct. 28. He’s also equally looking forward to the staging of the Broadway hit “FELA!” April 12 and 13 at Centennial Hall. Th e musical cel-ebrates the life of a Nigerian dissident, and ends a dry spell of sorts for UApresents in terms of presenting Broadway shows.
Most UApresents events are in Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. on the UA campus, but some take place in Crowder Hall, 1017 E. Olive Road in the School of Music building on campus, and at Stevie Eller Dance Th eater, 1737 E. University Blvd.
• UApresents — www.UApresents.org.
Rogue Th eatreFresh off of their exciting international performance trip to India, the artists at the Rogue
Th eatre Company are coming back with a series of fi ve compelling works this season. Both Artistic Director Joseph McGrath and Managing Director Cynthia Meier are eager to show Tuc-son their fi rst production of the season, “Journey to the West,” which tells the tale of a 16th cen-tury monk traveling from China to India. Packed with “fantastical characters,” the play is both philosophical and beautiful while it is also very theatrical. Another exciting development for Rogue this season is the addition of a resident company of actors—11 in all—who will perform in all works this year. Th is is a fi rst for the Rogue, and a milestone for the company and the ac-tors, in that they all will be working as a troupe on all productions.
Performances are at the Historic Y, 300 E. University Blvd. • Th e Rogue Th eatre — www.Th eRogueTh eatre.org
Whew, that’s a lot of worthy performances this season. Hopefully you can catch a few. While we’ve touched on some of the biggest organizations, there are many other great groups in Tuc-son who also will be presenting unique and interesting work this season.
Contact Herb Stratford at [email protected]. Stratford teaches arts manage-
ment at the University of Arizona.
Jenna Johnson and Daniel Precup perform in “Pasión Ar-gentina.” This season, Ballet Tucson will present the pre-miere of another tango piece, “Passionately, Piazolla!”
Winner of three Tony awards, “Fela!” will be on stage at Centennial Hall for three performances, April 12 and 13.
Nine-time Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt is the Sept. 26 season opener for UApresents.
FALL ARTS continued from PAGE 14
Ed F
lore
s
AUGUST 31, 2012 17InsideTucsonBusiness.com
GET ON THE LISTNext up: Minority-owned business, Exporters
Inside Tucson Business is gathering data for the 2013 edition of the Book of Lists. Categories that will be published in upcoming weekly issues of Inside Tucson Business are:
• Sept. 7: Television stations, Radio stations• Sept. 14: Minority-owned businesses,
• Oct. 5: Home builders, Custom home builders, Largest apartment complexes
If your business fits one of these catego-ries, now is the time to update your profile. Go to www.InsideTucsonBusiness.com and click the Book of Lists tab at the top of the page. New and unlisted businesses can cre-ate a profile by following the directions.
The Book of Lists is a year-round ref-erence for thousands of businesses and individuals. To advertise your business, call (520) 294-1200.
NEW IN TOWNFamily dentistry offi ceopens in Sonoita
Santa Cruz Family Dentistry has opened at 3121 Highway 83, Suite D, in Sonoita.
Dr. Christina Pace is seeing patients on Mondays, Tuesays and Fridays in the state-of-the-art office in a refurbished building.
Pace, who grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and earned her dental degree from the University of Southern Califonria in 1988, relocated to Sonoita last November.
“With Santa Cruz Family Dentistry now
open, one of my primary goals is to ensure that high-quality, affordable and compas-sionate dental services are available in the local community,” she said in an announce-ment of the opening of her new office.
Pace welcomes children and adult patients for routine and emergency visits as well as patients who require dentures, bridges and other prosthodontics.
Contact the office at (520) 455-9230 to schedule an appointment.
TECHNOLOGYTucsonans among fi nalistsfor state technology awards
IBM, two smaller Tucson firms and some University of Arizona research-ers are among those named this week as finalists in the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation, the annual contest honoring the technology industry in the state.
IBM’s Tucson operation was among three firms picked to be finalists in the category of large company Innovator of the Year. The other two firms named final-ists are American Express, Phoenix, and Enghouse Interactive, Phoenix.
The Solar Zone at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park and Tucson Embedded Systems, 5620 N. Kolb Road are both in the running for Green Innovator of the Year, given to companies to recognize their work in sustainable fields. A third company, Ecotality Communications, Phoenix, is also in the running.
Other Southern Arizona finalists are:• Northrup Grumman Technical
Services STEM Innovation Campus Project, Sierra Vista, for Pioneering Award, for advancements in technology. Other finalists are IO and Signature Technology Group, both Phoenix.
• The University of Arizona’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in
BRIEFSthe College of Engineering and McGuire Center for Enterprise are both finalists for Innovator of the Year in Academia. Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences is also a finalist.
The awards, presented annually by the Arizona Technology Council and the Arizona Commerce Authority, will be handed out this year in ceremonies Nov. 8 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Details about the event are online at www.aztechcouncil.org.
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE Transwest faces auctionof large land parcel
A large tract of vacant land on the far west side, owned by an affiliate of finan-cially troubled Transwest Partners, is in default and scheduled to be sold at public auction in November. Located at 4545 W. Ajo Highway, the approximate 30-acre parcel has an original principal balance of $2.5 million, according to public records.
The land is owned by Transwest Camino de Oeste LLC, an affiliated busi-ness of Transwest Partners LLC of Tucson, whose principals are Michael J. Hanson and Randal G. Dix. The site is southwest of the intersection of West Ajo Highway and South Camino de Oeste.
Transwest Partners has experienced financial problems on several acquisitions it made during the peak of the real estate market about five years ago. Some of those properties were placed into volun-tary bankruptcy protection, and/or sold.
Transwest’s troubled Tucson portfo-lio includes the Doubletree Hotel at Reid Park, 445 S. Alvernon Way; three proper-ties near North Oracle and Rudasill roads, La Posada Lodge & Casitas, Hampton Inn & Suites and Marriott TownePlace Suites and the Gallery Row center at the north-east corner of Skyline Drive and Campbell
Avenue. This year, Transwest’s interest in Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa was sold in bankruptcy court.
The law firm of Waterfall, Economides, Caldwell, Hanshaw & Villamana is handling the trustee’s sale. The land is scheduled to be sold at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 21 at the Pima County Courts Building, 110 W. Congress St.
EDUCATION/RESEARCHUA to lead 5-year, $5Msolar research project
Th e University of Arizona will lead a fi ve-year, $5 million research project to fi nd new solutions to for concentrated solar power.
Th e grant, announced Tuesday, is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative, which is seeking to make solar power cost competitive.
UA researchers will team with research-ers at Arizona State and Georgia Tech uni-versities to develop new fl uids based on molten salt that would be used in place of traditional heat-transfer fl uids.
Th e fl uids are used in concentrated solar power systems when a power plant’s mir-rors refl ect the sun’s light onto tubes car-rying that material. It is transported to the plant’s generation unit, where it is used to boil water to make steam that in turn runs the turbines and produces the power.
Molten salt is being used in concentrated solar power plants as a storage method, no-tably in Abengoa Solar’s Solana Generating Station near Gila Bend.
Th e idea behind the grants is to fi nd a fl uid that can generate higher temperatures and lead to greater effi ciencies in CSP pro-duction, thus lowering the cost.
Th e University of California, Los Angeles also received a $5 million, 5-year grant. It will team with Yale University and the Uni-versity of California, Berkeley to look at us-ing liquid metals as a fl uid.
18 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
FINANCECBO issues gloomiest estimate yet on impact of ‘fi scal cliff ’ By David GrantTh e Christian Science Monitor
Every time the Congressional Budget Of-fi ce recalibrates its projections for the eco-nomic impact of the nation’s impending “fi scal cliff ,” the picture gets bleaker.
Th at’s the headline news from the CBO’s latest update issued this month on its bud-get outlook for the next decade: Th e $560 billion mix of spending cuts and tax hikes that make up the year-end fi scal cliff will “probably” cause a recession in 2013, as the economy would shrink by 0.5 percent for the year.
And not only are the impacts of going over the cliff worse, but the CBO also be-lieves the American economy will be weaker overall even if Congress punts on all of the nation’s pressing issues of taxing and spend-ing by pushing off the expiration of tax breaks and the beginning of spending cuts for a year or longer.
Why? First, the economy is not moving as quickly as the CBO expected it would early in 2012.
Second, policies enacted after the CBO’s early-year forecast, such as a one-year ex-tension of the payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefi ts, helped GDP growth this year but their expiration at year’s end will lower it in 2013.
Moreover, uncertainty about how the fi s-cal cliff will play out is already hurting spend-ing by both businesses and consumers.
Th e CBO’s 2012 economic outlook holds that some households will “probably pull back on spending later in the year in re-sponse to rising concerns about the eff ects of the future fi scal tightening.”
Likewise, while business investment is currently growing “strongly” and is “sup-ported by favorable conditions in markets for corporate borrowing,” it is also being “restrained by businesses’ concern about possible major changes in fi scal policies.”
Economists generally are ascribing at least some part of the slowing economy to uncertainty over the fi scal cliff .
Congress’ nonpartisan budget analysts now project the economy will contract by 0.5 percent between the fourth quarter of
this year and the same quarter in 2013, if the economy is allowed to sustain some $560 billion in higher taxes and lower spending.
In May, the CBO said the economy would shrink by 1.3 percent in the fi rst half of next year before rebounding to 2.3 percent growth in the second half for a yearly gain of 0.5 percent.
In January, the CBO estimated that the economy would grow by 1.1 percent even if it went off the fi scal cliff .
Going off the fi scal cliff would increase the unemployment rate a notch more than previously expected.
Without congressional action, unem-ployment would breach 9 percent come De-cember of 2013.
Previously, CBO expected it to come in at 8.8 percent.
Even if Congress pushes off a reckoning with these budget issues for a year or longer in order to give them even more time to ne-gotiate a solution, CBO believes the economy will be weaker next year than it previously thought.
Annual economic growth with a congres-sional punt on the fi scal cliff would hit an anemic 1.7 percent in 2013 versus the CBO’s May estimate of 4.4 percent growth.
A 1.7 percent growth rate would be slow-er than the 2.1 percent growth the CBO ex-pects the economy to clock in at this year.
As in previous reports, the CBO noted that allowing the tax hikes and spending cuts of the fi scal cliff to come to pass will dramatically shrink the nation’s defi cit in coming years.
In 2013, for example, the defi cit would be $641 billion (or 4 percent of GDP) if the US hits the cliff head-on versus an estimated defi cit of $1 trillion (6.5 percent of GDP) if current tax-ing and spending policies are extended.
Allowing fi scal cliff -like fi scal policy to continue for the next decade would lower US defi cits to just 0.9 percent of GDP in 2022 with the nation’s overall debt falling from 77 percent of GDP in 2014 to 58 percent in 2022.
Th at’s versus a defi cit averaging 5 per-cent of GDP over the next decade if current tax laws are extended and spending cuts are eliminated, with America owing 90 percent of its GDP in debt come 2022.
TUCSON STOCK EXCHANGEStock market quotations of some publicly traded companies doing business in Southern Arizona
Company Name Symbol Aug. 29 Aug. 22 Change52-Week
Low52-Week
HighTucson companiesApplied Energetics Inc AERG.OB 0.04 0.04 0.00 0.03 0.44CDEX Inc CEXIQ.OB 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.01 0.10Providence Service Corp PRSC 11.57 11.60 -0.03 8.35 15.94UniSource Energy Corp (Tucson Electric Power) UNS 40.78 40.05 0.73 34.28 42.10
*Quotes in U.S. dollars, except Bombardier is Canadian dollars.
AUGUST 31, 2012 19InsideTucsonBusiness.com
INSIDE REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
By Roger Yohem Inside Tucson Business
With W.E. O’Neil Construction Compa-ny as the general contractor, more than 70 percent of the subcontractors working on the retail renovation of the northeast corner of East Broadway and Craycroft Road are lo-cal. Th at is a welcome economic boost to a construction industry that is still struggling to recover 12,000 jobs in the Tucson region lost during the Great Recession.
Of 36 subcontractors working on the 7.4-acre Benenson Broadway-Craycroft Retail Center Project, 26 are local, according to Tommy Roof, vice president of O’Neil Con-struction, 710 S. Campbell Ave. Among the non-local fi rms, three are from Phoenix and “most of the rest are owner-specifi ed ven-dors. Th ey come with the project and mesh with our contractors,” Roof said.
“We always try to use local contractors,” he said. “Every job in construction is im-portant right now, we have so much unem-ployment here. In our industry, we had a depression, not a recession. Th ese jobs feed local families.”
Th e retail center project is renovating an 81,000 square-foot former Mervyn’s store into a building that will be split between two tenants: SteinMart and Hobby Lobby. Th e project also includes construction of a new 14,500 square-foot building on site for Mat-tress Firm, the Vitamin Shoppe, and space for two future tenants.
Th e entire site is owned by Benenson Capital Partners, New York.
SteinMart “is the big push” and plans to open for the holiday season. “In mid-Octo-ber, they want to start moving in,” Roof said.
Hobby Lobby, Mattress Firm and the Vita-min Shoppe plan to open next year.
Roof estimated the $4.2 million rede-velopment project is employing about 200 local trades workers. It will require some 84,000 hours of labor and only $300,000 to $350,000 will go to outside companies.
“So just under $4 million stays here,” he said.
In mid-2006, construction in Pima Coun-ty peaked at 28,700 workers. Th e economic downturn eliminated 11,900 of those jobs through July, according to state employ-ment data.
Local businesses working on the renova-tion project include: AAA Landscaping, Ac-tion Scaff olding, Allan Fire Protection Sys-tems, Applied Rite Doors & Docks, Armour Shield Roofi ng, BW Plumbing, Babby-Henkel Building Specialties, Catclaw Contractors, Cornerstone Electrical Contractors, D&J Air Conditioning, and Dar-Hill Corporation.
Other companies include: Eagle Roofi ng, Glass Unlimited, Grids, Herschman Archi-tects, Liner Drywall, Meridian Surveying & Development, Mirage Plastering, Northwest Exterminating, Sierra Woodworks Blue Sier-ra, Southwest Hazard Control, Steel Manage-ment, Stonart, Sweetwater Group, Tom White Carpentry and W.G. Valenzuela Drywall.
Retail center rebuild brings 200 jobs, $4 million
THE PULSE: TUCSON REAL ESTATE
8/20/2012 8/13/2012
Median Price $134,250 $134,900Active Listings 4,087 4,114New Listings 337 350Pending Sales 333 390Homes Closed 222 213Source: Long Realty Research Center
WEEKLY MORTGAGE RATES
Program Current Last WeekOne
Year Ago12 Month
High12 Month
Low
30 YEAR 3.50% 3.75%APR 3.75% 4.00%APR 4.95% 4.95% 3.50%
15 YEAR 2.88% 3.125%APR 3.13% 3.375% APR 4.22% 4.22% 3.00%
3/1 ARM 2.88% 3.125%APR 2.88% 3.125% APRThe above rates have a 1% origination fee and 0 discount . FNMA/FHLMC maximum conforming loan amount is $417,000 Conventional Jumbo loans are loans above $417,000Information provided by Randy Hotchkiss, National Certifi ed Mortgage Consultant (CMC) Hotchkiss Financial, Inc. P.O. Box 43712 Tucson, Arizona 85733 • 520-324-0000MB #0905432. Rates are subject to change without notice based upon market conditions.
8/28/2012
Rheem honors Perry HeatingPerry Heating & Cooling, 3266 E. Grant
Road, has been recognized by the Rheem Company as one of its top 10 contractors in the nation. As a member of the Rheem Team Top Contractors of 2011, Perry was honored for its outstanding employee training, high business standards, and customer service performance.
Perry Heating & Cooling has about 30 employees. It was established in 1949 and is owned by George, Courtney and Butch Ash-brook. Th e company is known for featur-ing former University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson in its advertising.
Rheem is an international manufacturer of residential and commercial heating and cooling systems and equipment.
Lower listingsNow that the real estate market is main-
taining some positive momentum, the num-ber of neighborhoods with more than 200 homes for sale is falling. In July, only two zip codes in the Tucson region had more than 200 active listings. Th at’s a signifi cant im-provement on the dark days of 2010 when there were nine zones with 250 or more homes for sale.
According to Tucson Association of Re-altors’ Multiple Listing Service, the most listings in July were in zip code 85739 with 226 houses. Th is area is along North Oracle Road from Catalina State Park to the junc-tion of state routes 77 and 79.
Th e other zip code was 85718 in the Cat-alina Foothills with 206 listings, an area that frequently topped 300 listings through 2010 and into mid-2011.
For the fi fth consecutive month, more homes sold than were listed in the 85756 zip code. With 35 offi cial listings, one addition-al home sold there in July. Th is is an area around Tucson International Airport be-
tween Interstates 10 and 19. Due to a timing quirk for “active” listings, more houses sold there in July.
High marks for Keller Williams
Based on several key measures, home buyers and sellers gave Keller Williams their highest customer satisfaction scores in a new national J.D. Power and Associates survey.
In the home-buyer segment, Keller Wil-liams was followed in the rankings by Pru-dential Real Estate and Coldwell Banker Real Estate. For home selling, Keller Wil-liams was followed by Coldwell Banker then Prudential. All three companies have sev-eral local offi ces.
Th e study measured how well the nation’s largest real estate companies delivered on customer satisfaction. Th e home-buying experience rated the agent/salesperson, of-fi ce, and various services. Th e home-selling experience rated these three categories plus marketing.
Th e survey also found that the top-performing companies captured a higher percentage of listing prices for clients. On average, sellers received 89 percent of their listing price when using a top-rated broker.
Sterling buys 16 lotsA.F. Sterling Homes, 6340 N. Campbell
Ave., soon will launch a new development project in Campos Adobes, at the southwest corner of Northern Avenue and Magee Road in Oro Valley. Th e home builder has pur-chased 16 fi nished lots there for $836,973 from Landmark Title Trust of Tucson, rep-resented by Ben Becker and Adam Becker, CBRE.
Sales and leases • El Rio Community Health Center
leased a 3,006 square-foot medical offi ce building at 340 W. Prince Road from Joyce Pedersen, represented by Buzz Isaacson, CBRE. Th e tenant was represented by James Hardman, Desco Southwest.
• Café Francais & Patisserie leased 3,000 square feet at 2900 N. Swan Road in Plaza Palomino from WCCP Plaza Palomi-no LLC, represented by David Montijo and Shannon Murphy, CBRE.
• Abundant Health Family Practiceleased 1,921 square feet at 2055 W. Hospital Drive in Northwest Professional Plaza, from Windrose Northwest Professional Plaza. Th e transaction was handled by Bruce Sup-pes and David Volk, CBRE.
Redevelopment of the Broadway-Craycroft Retail Center will employ about 200 construction workers.
20 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
A stakeholder. you’d think that would include anyone aff ected by whatever it is you’re talking about. But it seems that’s not the case when it comes to making decisions within a governmental framework.
I say that after reading a letter to the editor printed in the Aug. 24 issue of Inside Tucson Business. In part: “For years, city and Regional Transportation Authority staff have repeated the lie that stakeholders approved the plan. Yet the record shows consistent opposition from the 1980s to 2005 to today.”
And yet on May 16, 2006, every registered voter in Pima County was given the opportunity to put their money where their mouths are and approve two measures: a half-cent sales tax to raise $2.1 billion and a 20-year regional transportation plan. Both were passed by about 20 percentage point margins. In election terminology, those were close to landslide victories. Solid wins in any case.
In terms of defi ning the word stakeholder, the vote couldn’t have been any more encompassing.
Th ere are items within the transportation plan that not every-one agrees on. Even people who voted “yes” in 2006 probably didn’t support every item in it. But you can’t argue that stake-holders didn’t have their say.
At a time when our local governments are having trust issues with voters, the bigger problem would be to selectively try to eliminate an approved project or two. No matter how good a reason someone thinks they have, a majority of voters approved it.
Surely, that also had to be a “stakeholder” whose letter to the editor of the Arizona Daily Star was published on Aug. 23 under the title “Be thankful F-35s are going to Luke.”
Th e letter writer, described as a retired Tucsonan, was critical of an earlier letter written by Ellen Jimenez, chair of the military aff airs committee of the Tucson Metro Chamber, who was optimistic that Tucson may yet land a training center for the F-35.
Th e letter writer took Jimenez to task as a person who “doesn’t, nor has ever, lived under or close to a fl ight path.”
Rather than continuing to fi ght to get an F-35 training center at the Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport, the letter writer notes the F-35s and Luke Air Force Base “are straight up the road on Interstate 10. Anyone who can put up with the congestion and noise that a big-city area like Phoenix grew into knows the way.”
So if you follow this “stakeholder’s” thinking, he moves in underneath the fl ight path to a landing strip. He doesn’t say which one but Davis-Monthan Air Force Base has been there since 1927 and Tucson International Airport has been at its current location since 1948 — except that he doesn’t like hearing planes land so now the rest of us should move to Phoenix.
Why doesn’t he move into a cave?But that’s the new defi nition of a “stakeholder.” NIMBYs have
hijacked the meaning of the word. You’ve got to give them credit, though. It’s a masterful move because it gives the exact opposite impression of the original intent of involving as many people as possible.
Lessons learned Tuesday Now that we’re fi nished with Tuesday’s warm-up for
the Nov. 6 general election, it’s worthwhile to take note of take-away lessons to be learned from the exercise. Th ese three caught our attention.
Dirty doesn’t win Ray Carroll won his Republican primary — and
ostensibly re-election to the Pima County supervisorial district he has served for 15 years since there’s no Democratic challenger. But the primary against chal-lenger Sean Collins got to be a nasty one. Neoconserva-tives accused Carroll of not being a true Republican, noting that at one point in his life he had been a regis-tered Democrat and has supported issues backed by the Democratic-majority on the Board of Supervisors.
Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash came to Carroll’s aid and even took to the airwaves with a radio commercial supporting Carroll. “Th ere are a few people who have been up to no good in this election. It’s not OK to make stuff up, and the crew that’s helping wannabe supervisor candidate Sean Collins have been purposely trying to mislead us.” Ash said on the spot.
Th at brought charges from Collins’ supporters calling Ash a RINO; Republican In Name Only — the term meant to imply a lack of conservative credentials. But Ash has been driving the Republican Party’s conservative train. It would be hard to fi nd an Arizona party offi cial who is more conservative than Ash on any issue.
Th e race between Carroll and Collins really boiled down to one main point: the Rosemont Copper mine. Carroll has been a leading opponent. Collins supported it.
We at Inside Tucson Business have supported development of the mine since 2006 and continue to believe it will provide a long overdue major boost to the region’s economy when it opens. But some people connected to Rosemont are harming the project through their tactics. Th is election showed it.
Work pays off Th ere was a story fl oating around that early-on in the
campaign for the Republican primary for the county supervisor seat being given up by Ann Day, Mike Hellon operatives showed up at a sparsely attended event put on by Ally Miller and decided at that point to write her campaign off .
Hellon apparently thought he could rest on laurels he had gained as chairman of the Arizona Republican Party from 1997-1999 and as a Republican National Committeeman from 1992-2004, neglecting to realize “insider politics” isn’t exactly popular these days. And besides Hellon held those posts many years ago.
Whatever defi cit she might have had when she started, Miller played the outsider role masterfully and diligently.
Say something What may have been one of the oddest primary
campaigns was the challenge to Pima County School Superintendent Linda Arzoumanian. Quick, name that challenger! You can’t? Mace Bravin didn’t say a whole lot to get noticed, even if he did manage to collect 45 percent of the vote. Th at has as much to do with the fact that the offi ce isn’t exactly high profi le so unless a person has a particular reason to vote one or another, it’s liable to be skipped as was evidenced by the undercount in the race.
Bravin had a slogan on his website — “Putting the Public Back in Public Education.” And he cited his reasons for running as “transparency,” “accountability” and “putting children fi rst.” All that says is he’s good at regurgitating buzzwords.
Anyone would have been hard-pressed to fi nd real reasons to fault the job Arzoumanian has done, but come on man, if you’re going to run for offi ce, at least give a reason somebody should vote for you.
AUGUST 31, 2012 21InsideTucsonBusiness.com
OPINIONBUSINESS INK
Th is Labor Day, let’s rebuild our business reputationFire up the grill. Break out the margarita
pops. Th ere are many reasons to celebrate this Labor Day weekend.
But before we get too self-absorbed in our personal good fortune, consider this: there are some 34,500 of our neighbors who have little reason to cheer.
Th is national holiday will fi nd them feeling frustrated, hopeless, unfulfi lled, unhappy, inept, and perhaps a bit embar-rassed. Th ey are all on the outside looking in, make that looking FOR, a job.
It’s been three years since economists declared an offi cial end to the Great Reces-sion. Statistically, June 2009 was the tipping point. Th at’s when the national economy hit bottom and the recovery began.
In Southern Arizona, the recovery has been lackluster, with an emphasis on the “lack.” As in the lack of job recovery, the lack of job creation, the lack of job growth, the lack of certainty about job security, the lack of wage growth, and the lack of a well-diversifi ed private-sector economy.
Here in Baja Arizona, there’s a sour mix of business, political, neighborhood, public policy, regulatory, tax, environmental, and other confl icting interests. Th at’s why the local economy is what it is and Tucson’s anti-business reputation, deserved or not, has gained notoriety over the decades.
Th e reality about a negative business
setting is that it is spread by national news agencies, discussed at national confer-ences, talked about at corporate headquarters, analyzed by investors, blogged and tweeted ad nausea, and used against us by
others who aggressively compete for economic development.
Th e region has a perception that likewise, will take years to turn around. In recognition of the crisis, kudos to Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild for their recent attempts to put the “pro” back in front of “business.”
Th e challenges are many and the list of negatives is long, from mediocre airline service at our airport to the loss of Major League Baseball spring training and thorny land use restrictions. Th en there’s Rio Nuevo. A key downtown booster once told me that wherever he travels the country on business, business people have heard of this Baja debacle.
As a tertiary, mid-major city, the reality
is that job creation will be organic, mostly home grown with a small mix of “imports” from other states. When was the last time a big company came here with hundreds of well-paying non-call center jobs?
So in the spirit of Labor Day, entrepreneur-ship, the free market, and America as the land of opportunity, let’s celebrate the positives.
According to state employment data, Southern Arizona has turned the corner and is moving in the right direction. Over the past 12 months, the jobless rate for the Tucson region has dropped to 7.7 percent in July, from 9 percent.
Knocking at the door of opportunity is some quick-fi x relief:
Walmart has fi ve “organic” projects underway that will create 950 new retail jobs. Pharmacy benefi ts manager OptumRx plans to hire 400 employees. Th e Rosemont Copper mine is worth about 400 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs for suppliers and support services. Newcomer Accelr8 Technology Corp. hopes to have more than 200 employees within a decade.
Th at’s almost 3,500 new jobs from just these four companies. If all goes as planned, that would put 10 percent of our 34,500 jobless neighbors back to work. Th at’s a labor situation that would make them feel successful, fulfi lled, happy, productive and more than a bit proud.
For the 92.3 percent of us who have jobs, pay it forward. Literally, celebrate Labor Day with labor. Donate your own labor, time and resources as a community service volunteer.
Habitat for Humanity Tucson always needs labor. And although this year’s 9/11 Freedom Day home-building event is fully booked, the need for volunteers continues long after September.
Another option is the Arizona Builders Association’s Volunteer Day. You don’t have to be a drill and drywall whiz for this project to help 75 homeless military vets in transitional housing. In December, Esparanza En Escalante, is slated for a major renovation and upgrade.
Arizona Builders Association executive director Tom Dunn welcomes anyone interested in helping with Volunteer Day. Contact him at [email protected] .
Since 1894, Labor Day has celebrated the economic and civic achievements of the American worker. Th is year, let’s also cheer those who are in the business of creating jobs and those who are working on building a new reputation for doing business in Southern Arizona.
Contact Roger Yohem at ryohem@
azbiz.com or (520) 295-4254. His Business Ink
appears biweekly and weighs in on local
political, social and business issues.
ROGER YOHEM
GUEST OPINION
Faux science and bullying wants to create a jaguar habitat Th e U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) has released a notice soliciting comments on a proposal to designate critical habitat for the jaguar in New Mexico and Arizona. Th e request appears to be based as much on legal threats by the Center for Biological Diversity to sue if they don’t get their way, as it is on science.
Th e Center for Biological Diversity has a history of gaining millions of our federal tax dollars through intimidation and litigation. In a High Country News Dec. 21, 2009, interview, Kieran Suckling, founder of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), was quoted as saying:
“New injunctions, new species listings and new bad press take a terrible toll on agency morale... Psychological warfare is a very underappreciated aspect of environ-mental campaigning.
“Th e core talent of a successful environ-mental activist is not science and law. It’s campaigning instinct. Th at’s not only not taught in the universities, it’s discouraged.”
We are confi dent that the USFWS and
U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will not be intimidated by a group that prides itself on bullying public agencies. We have seen fi rsthand how seriously the USFWS and the USFS take their mission to be good
stewards and to develop reasoned, scientifi cally based assessments.
It is widely known that the few jaguar sightings in Southern Arizona in the last half-century or more have been males. Even the Center for Biological Diversity biologists would have to agree that a species with only sparse wandering males does not constitute a breeding population. Records show the last recorded sighting of a female jaguar in Arizona was in 1910.
As to potential impacts from the Rosemont Copper project, and any related
activity for that matter, Section 7 Consulta-tion under the National Environmental Policy Act involving the USFWS, USFS, and Rosemont Copper is underway and the jaguar is part of that review. Th is multi-agency process evaluates the facts, the data, and the record, to defi ne conserva-tion measures appropriate to the level of impact possible or anticipated.
Th e northern Santa Rita Mountains is an area that has been used for mining, ranching, recreation, and similar activities since the 1800s. Th e Rosemont Copper project site has been described and characterized throughout the Environmen-tal Impact Statement as subject to heavy mechanized use with signifi cant human presence. With or without the Rosemont project, this ongoing activity level is not going to make ideal conditions for the large cat, making the statements from the Center for Biological Diversity a wish rather than science.
Th e jaguar’s wide range extends from northern Mexico through Central America
and much of South America. Th erefore, it’s unclear how a fringe area on the northern periphery of the Santa Rita Mountains could possibly be considered essential to the species’ conservation and recovery especially when the area has a century of ongoing human use.
Our project will not adversely aff ect the ability of conservation organizations to conserve and recover this species. In the meantime, this question is being dealt with today within the existing National Environ-mental Policy Act process.
We are confi dent that thoughtful analysis will relegate the faux science and bullying tactics of the Center for Biological Diversity as activism, and that the agency will see that designation of critical habitat in other areas may be warranted for the conservation and recovery of the species, but not the northern Santa Rita Mountains.
James Sturgess is senior vice president
of corporate development and government
aff airs for Rosemont Copper.
JAMES A. STURGESS
22 AUGUST 31, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
Phone: (520) 295-4201Fax: (520) 295-40713280 E. Hemisphere Loop, #180Tucson, AZ 85706-5027 Internet: www.azbiz.com
• Letters to the editor — Opinions on business-related issues or coverage of is-sues by Inside Tucson Business are encour-aged and will be published. Submit letters to the editor via email at [email protected]. Letters also may be mailed to Letters to the editor, Inside Tucson Business, P.O. Box 27087, Tucson, AZ 85726-7087. Let-ters must include the writer’s name and telephone number. Inside Tucson Business reserves the right to edit and may not print all letters that are received.
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Not ‘ungrateful,’ but working to solutions
TO: The EditorFROM: Steve Kozachik, Tucson City CouncilRE: Being ‘ungrateful’
Creating good public policy isn’t about a persistent cadence of divisiveness and criticism over the airwaves, or running around with little bubble diagrams purporting to show that our problems are the result of factions that we need to dissolve.
Doing that only serves to further entrench divisions and drive a wedge between parties (small p) and Parties (capital P) thus making common ground more diffi cult to achieve.
Creating good public policy is absolute-ly about working to break down barriers, bringing otherwise disparate groups to the table and working for solutions. Th at means creating a new normal for the region.
And where that means crossing Party lines, or refusing to buy into the notion of “my party right or wrong” it is considered by columnists Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimmone as being ungrateful.
Th ey’re wrong – and their approach to regional policy is unhelpful.
In their column in the Aug. 24 issue of Inside Tucson Business, Higgins and DeSimone wrote: “Kozachik has since endorsed Democrats Ron Barber for Congress and Richard Carmona in his bid to go to the U.S. Senate. Neither of those guys are going to help Kozachik at Tucson city hall. Memo to Mr. Kozachik: You’re not taking heat because you’re supporting Democrats, you’re taking heat because you’re ungrateful.”
Th e fi rst sentence explicitly calls out Party affi liation, and the second tries to negate it.
Both of the gentlemen they cite have demonstrated an ability to cross party lines to fi nd common ground. Th ey’re smart enough to recognize that when the water rises, the island you’re on isn’t going to tilt. You can compromise on position without compromising on principle.
Since my election, I have walked the walk of bringing to the table voices who had previously only shouted at one another across a divide.
Th e most recent examples include major civic event coordinators meeting with the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visistors Bureau and the city manager to better coordinate support for those
economic drivers. Th ey include my bridging the gap
between the city, Pima County, Tucson Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation Authority, two county supervisorial districts, along with homeowners associations and a developer in the River-Craycroft roads area in an eff ort to better plan transit capacity issues.
Th ey include pushing for the formation of stakeholders in support of a fi lm incentive bill that will necessarily require inter-Party support, across multiple levels of government, various retail sectors and the hospitality industry if it is to pass.
It includes working with builders who own property around the University of Arizona, bringing them to the table with residents who live in historic neighbor-hoods in the area, trying to fi nd collabora-tive solutions to the inevitable growth of the UA and how that will occur in the complex interplay of preservation and growth.
Th ose eff orts don’t lend themselves well to bubble diagrams or sniping over the air. Th ey require the ability of adults to sit with one another and work towards solutions.
Th at needs to be the new normal for our region.
Higgins and DeSimmone criticized me for taking on state Sen. Frank Antenori,
R-Tucson. Guilty as charged to the extent that I spoke out against legislation he sponsored that infringes on local decision making and would negatively impact our general fund.
State government balanced its budget on the backs of cities and counties.
Higgins and DeSimone criticized me for not supporting Tyler Vogt in last year’s city council elections. In fact, I did work with Mr. Vogt, provided him counsel on the budget and other important issues.
When he came out in support of the lawsuit against the City of Tucson fi led by the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District board, I could no longer support his candidacy. One does not sue the constituents he seeks to represent and hope it will end well.
I’ll continue to reach out to stakehold-ers, not ungrateful for the support I was given, but focused on working towards a greater good for the region, irrespective of Party affi liation, and irrespective of whether or not the factions I’m bringing together have worked well with one another in the past.
Higgins and DeSimmone will continue their zero sum approach to politics. Th at will only guarantee the community loses if they win. Fortunately, their track record is pretty much all hat and no cattle.
LETTERS
AUGUST 31, 2012 23InsideTucsonBusiness.com
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